Why New York's NoMad neighbourhood is the city's latest hotel hotspot

For a city that supposedly never sleeps, New York seems to be very keen on hotels: more than 9,000 new rooms are expected to be added this year alone. And with 56.4 million visitors set to arrive in 2022 — 85% of 2019 levels — the bedroom boom couldn’t come at a better time. 

Manhattan’s NoMad, in particular, is the district with the most activity. Having emerged from its late-20th-century doldrums, the region North of Madison Square Park — bordered by Lexington Avenue, 6th Avenue, 30th Street and 25th Street — gained a reputation as one of the city’s most up-and-coming areas after the opening of the Ace Hotel in 2009 and the NoMad Hotel in 2012. If further proof was needed, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos splurged $80m (£65m) on several apartments atop a 24-storey tower on Fifth Avenue in 2019, confirming it as one of the most sought-after neighbourhoods in town.

And now NoMad is set to further bolster its reputation with a string of new hotels. The Johnston Building, constructed in 1903, has now become The Ned NoMad, a sister property to the stylish London hotel and members’ club. The 250-room Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad followed in July at a cost of $500m (£410m) while the Le Méridien New York, Fifth Avenue is set to open in August.

A decade in the making, The Fifth Avenue Hotel will finally open this autumn in a meticulously restored building dating back to 1907 with the Hotel Aka NoMad, on the corner of Madison Avenue, welcoming guests from November. Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Hotels will see its 38-floor hotel open on the corner of 29th Street and Broadway in the winter. And finally, the AC Hotel New York NoMad — its launch date yet to be confirmed — will allegedly be the world’s tallest modular hotel with 26 storeys and 168 rooms. With rooms this enticing, sleeping might be all you want to do.